A new Coastal Ranger has been appointed in Cleethorpes to engage with the community in celebrating and protecting the unique beauty of our coastline.
Born and bred in Grimsby, Josh Forrester’s background as a data analyst combined with a self-taught knowledge and enthusiasm for wildlife protection should stand him in good stead in his new role, which combines two often conflicting remits.
A seaside resort like Cleethorpes is unusual in having a nature reserve that is central to a major tourist resort – a juxtaposition that makes it difficult sometimes to navigate.
Cleethorpes own Nature Reserve begins behind the Leisure Centre, but is also the starting point for a nature reserve that covers more than 30km of the Lincolnshire coastline. The Lincolnshire Coronation Coast National Nature Reserve (LCCNNR), is a special landscape covering an area equivalent to 4,000 football pitches, and containing a rich variety of sand dunes.
On the one hand, there is the legal obligation for North East Lincolnshire Council to manage and protect an area designated as a site of special scientific interest. On the other, is the need to encourage and promote tourism and enjoyment of the beach, which is a mainstay of the region’s economy.
North East Lincolnshire manages to tread this fine line successfully most of the time, but issues of recreational disturbance do take place and can have detrimental effects on this unique environment and the internationally-renowned wildlife and migratory birds that depend on it.
While Josh’s role, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is primarily about community engagement, with residents and visitors alike, educating people on the importance of the coastline, its significance to the environment as a whole and why North East Lincolnshire Council has a legal responsibility to protect it. It is also about management and protection of species and discouraging any recreational disturbance that threatens it.
He must support the NEL Dynamic Understanding of the Natural Environment (DUNE) Project for North East Lincolnshire’s Heritage Place. At the heart of this project is the need to sustainably manage of one of the most important estuaries in Europe, to ensure the conservation of the estuary’s internationally important wildlife.
“We want the people of North East Lincolnshire and our visitors to be aware of the valuable and wonderful habitat that is Cleethorpes,” said Josh.
“I see my role as one of engagement, to encourage people to appreciate this fabulous location. Of course, we want them to come here and enjoy it, but we feel that by also giving people some extra knowledge on what makes it so special, we can encourage more people to have a greater respect for it.
“A lot of recreational disturbance is unintentional, caused by paddleboarders going through the saltmarsh or people walking their dogs there. There is no intended malice, but the saltmarsh is a rare ecosystem and it is under threat all over the world. Whereas some of the plants in the dune grass react well to being trampled, the saltmarsh is more delicate.
“Saltmarsh is under threat all over the world and we are so privileged to have it thriving here. Saltmarsh not only acts as a natural flood defence but also plays a huge role in carbon capture. My job is to sell the positives in the hope that more people can see why we should protect it.”
In his first fortnight, Josh has already conducted a guided public walk of the SSSI and has another planned for Wednesday May 28. The circular walk will start and finish at Cleethorpes Leisure Centre from 10am-11.30am. He is also hoping to promote the coastline at community and school groups and encourage consistent positive promotion of Cleethorpes Nature Reserve.
On top of that, he will spend a lot of time monitoring the coastline, recording and managing species, which is a legal requirement for a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is a formal conservation designation. It describes an area of particular interest to science due to the rare species of fauna or flora it contains.
Cleethorpes has valuable, and hence, protected dune grass, saltmarsh, sand dunes and scrubland that offers safe havens for an extraordinary wealth of birds and wildlife that rely on it for their existence.
For the most part, the area is encouraged to thrive naturally, but monitoring species allows NELC ecologists the opportunity to intervene if needed to ensure that all of the unusual species can continue to thrive side by side.
Disturbance to these areas, such as paddleboarding or dog walking in the saltmarsh, may not be intentional but can have serious consequences for the internationally acclaimed population of migrating birds that stop off here twice a year to rest and recuperate. These birds travel back and forth from the Arctic to Africa in the Spring and Autumn. Without this opportunity to properly rest and feed on route they can die.
For years, Josh has been recording and tracking birds on BirdTrack for the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and his latest role is a perfect fusion of all of his interests.
“This is such a special area for migratory birds. A lot of people simply are not aware of how good we have it here. I often litter-pick and it brings with it such a range of emotions because I always ask myself why people just don’t seem to care what they throw down,” he said.
“Then I think again and wonder ‘is it just that they have not been invited to look more closely at the area they are abusing and care more about it?’ I hope that that is the case and, if so, that my role is going to be able to make a difference to that by engaging with as many people as I can to encourage them to care more.”
Josh added: “I have wanted to have some kind of wildlife conservation role all my life but never expected to get one here on my doorstep. I want to give back to this area using the skills I have learned to protect and promote the extraordinary coast and wildlife here.
“This role will give me the best opportunity to do that. I also want to encourage coastal champions – organisations and individuals – to buy into the importance of protecting our coastline. No one person can do that alone, it has to be a community initiative and that is the goal I am setting myself, to bring active engagement that gives everyone a reason to value this amazing coastline.”
Cllr Henry Hudson, NELC Portfolio Holder for the Environment, said: “I want to extend a huge welcome to Josh in his new role as Coastal Ranger.
“This is a role that we hope can make a difference to the way people perceive our coastline by consistently encouraging them to value what they see here.
“We are all custodians of this wonderful coastline in North East Lincolnshire and, especially Cleethorpes, which brings so much pleasure to thousands of holidaymakers and local people each year. Josh’s knowledge, experience and passion for Cleethorpes makes him a perfect champion for North East Lincolnshire.”
See Josh at work on our beautiful Cleethorpes coastline here Coastal Ranger May 2025
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